Shift
by YYHfan-KB
Summary: In a world of people with the ability to change into animals that reflect their souls, John Watson is truly a beast. Slightly graphic violence. Post-TRF and AU.
1. In the Beginning

**Shift **

Every person in the world has special ability, the ability to shift. The creature they shift into reflects many things about their soul, and sometimes what they shift into shows more than they're comfortable with.

Some people are fine shifting publicly, while others only shift in the privacy of their own home or around certain trusted people.

Every person has a special someone out there somewhere that mirrors their partner's shift creature once those people meet an attachment forms, most attachments are romantic, but some are simply platonic.

Sometimes though the partner isn't found or worse yet, is found and lost. Sometimes a platonic attachment is really something more, or sometimes a romantic attachment is nothing at all.

* * *

The first time John Watson shifted was one of the most traumatic experiences of his ten short years of life thus far.

His father was drunk and screaming at Harry again for who knew what, no doubt the neighbors could hear it, while all little John tried to think of ways to calm his raging father down.

John stepped in-between Mr. Watson and Harry trying to defuse the situation, but was only slapped aside by his father.

The blow knocked him into the pantry doorknob with which his head collided, as he watched in a daze Mr. Watson slammed Harry's arm against the counter so hard it broke with a resonating crack.

There was a moment of silence, and then a harsh snarl tore through the air. John would remember later the smoky scent of his father's shirt and the look of sheer terror in the man's eyes just before he died.

But at the moment, all John knew was the hot taste of blood. It took a moment for John to realize he was no longer in human form, he had shifted for the first time and he had attacked his father.

Shock coursed through his entire system, and when he looked to Harry he realized she was whiter than a sheet. As soon as their eyes met hers rolled up into her head and she passed out.

In a daze John wandered out into the hallway, not believing the events going on when he saw himself in the hall mirror.

No animal John could think of quite fit his shift creature, his body was the shape of a wolf, his size was that of a small bear, his now grey eyes were slitted like a cat's, and his fur was black with a white x above his eyes.

His muzzle was stained with drying blood, and his razor sharp teeth were tinted red as well.

The only thing John could think of to describe himself would be monster; this thing that he had become was horrible. There was no way anyone could ever accept his shift form, it was too terrifying.

The power he felt and the ease with which he moved was uncommon amongst new shifts, Harry had spent two days trying to figure out how to walk on four legs and it took another three to stop tripping over her tail.

It was all too much for a ten year old to take in at once, and John fainted in shock.

_Three weeks later._

John and Harry were to go into foster care, the courts had decided John's actions were in self defense and both he and Harry had to go to a child psychiatrist as part of the court's decision.

The next eight years went by in a blur of different foster homes and new schools, then, at long last John and Harry could live on their own.

Working part time John managed to go to medical school, and then after graduating he joined the military as a field medic.

* * *

It was a whole new experience being in the army for John, having been a loner for as long as he could remember John was now forced to interact with many people on a daily basis.

He had been in Afghanistan for three months on his first tour when an insurgent ran in to the house where John and a wounded soldier were waiting for a medivac. The insurgent hadn't noticed John and by the time he did it was too late.

John's instincts took over and in one swift leap he shifted and snapped the man's neck just as he was turning. Ten seconds later John was back at his patients side making sure the man wasn't going to bleed out.

A year later after many close calls, one bullet found its way home into John's shoulder. His team had been pinned down by enemy fire and when John popped up to take out one of the snipers he got a bullet in return.

Even though he had been hit John managed to shoot his own shooter straight through the heart before collapsing.

The last memories he had of that moment was Murray's face and voice shouting for him to stay conscious and his last thought, _Please God, let me live, _before everything went completely black.

John woke up off and on as he fought a nasty fever that had him hallucinating for three days. On the fourth day the fever broke and John regained true consciousness for the first time to be informed of the extent of the damage.

The doctors told him that the bullet had lodged in between the ball of his shoulder and the collar bone, the collar bone had been broken and to make matters worse he had contracted an infection in the wound.

John had been lucky to be able to keep his arm they said, and then the worst news of all was told to him; he was being shipped home in three days.

* * *

Returning to London was one of the bleakest trips John had ever made as he realized he had no plans for the future, he couldn't afford to stay anywhere other than his little bedsit, and no one would want to hire a crippled doctor.

As he slowly readjusted to civilian life there were several times John contemplated the gun in his desk drawer, there were a few times when he peered over the railing of a high bridge on his meandering of the city, and there were many times when he stared at the bottle of painkillers in the bathroom.

He wasn't willing to give up just yet though; his fighting spirit wouldn't allow it. So instead of giving up he wandered, here and there, sometimes taking a back alley sometimes walking down the most populated streets there were.

When he ran into Mike Stamford he realized he hadn't really talked to anyone in ages, and as they caught up sitting there on that park bench John realized he didn't really care.

Mike told him that he'd found his shift mate and that she loved him in every way, and somehow the conversation meandered to John needing to find a flat mate.

When Mike said he knew someone who was looking for a flat mate John was skeptical that anyone would want to room with him, but after meeting Sherlock Holmes he couldn't help but be intrigued by the man.

During the Study in Pink as John called it he realized he really had been missing the adventure, his limp was gone, his tremor had been banished, and now he ran with the world's only consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes.

The light was back in his life again, and just maybe Sherlock Holmes would be the one to accept him over time.

* * *

**A/N:** I don't usually do AU's but this one has been attacking my brain for a while now and I thought that it might be interesting to try to write. Hopefully I did a decent job, it hasn't been beta'd but then again its rare if any of my stuff is. I gotta admit, this is different from my usually style, there's not a single piece of dialogue in this chapter.

Let me know if you think I should continue or scrap it please,

^_^ KB


	2. The Crash

It had been such a short, vibrant, time for him that the crash was the worst he'd ever experienced. The thrill of the chase, the excitement of finding leads; it had all been a blur to him, everything about him focused on the whirlwind of a man he followed almost blindly.

It was three weeks after the funeral that John Watson threw himself off a bridge into the Thames. It was three minutes after that moment that emergency responders arrived at the scene and tried to find him in the murky water; it was three hours before they gave up and called off the search.

There wasn't a dry eye when Harry Watson collapsed at her brother's funeral three days later sobbing that it wasn't fair that her little brother was gone.

The press spread rumors that Sherlock Holmes had been John Watson's shift mate and that Holmes' suicide had led to Watson's swan dive.

It wasn't until three years later that the shocking truth came out about the iconic duo.

* * *

**A/N: **The next chapter will have more depth, and a lot more than 171 words, I promise. What I can't promise is when the next chapter will be out. I'm not very good at updating constantly.


	3. The Plunging Decision

The first thing that his mind registered was how cold it was, the second thing he realized was that there was a distinct lack of breathable oxygen, and the third thing John Watson noticed was that he had shifted. The plunge of the bridge had been so fast, and so much adreneline had rushed through him that he had shifted as he hit the water.

Having never fully intended to survive John decided in a split second decision to vanish. His swan dive had probably been caught on camera and knew that not only would it be humiliating to go back, but he would probably be forced back into therapy.

As those thoughts flashed through his mind he swam to the underside of the bridge. Standing in the water below the bridge John studied the area around him through canine eyes, in front of him was a large open sewer pipe, he wasn't sure where it lead but he decided it was better than going up to street level where the CCTV cameras would catch him.

With a mental shrug John took a leap into the tunnel, the sound of sirens growing behind him, he set off into the dark unknown on four legs with no intention of returning to his human form anytime in the near future.

* * *

Mary was on her daily hike through the woods when she came face to face with the biggest wolf she had ever seen. It had been drinking from the stream on her right when she had come upon it, now it watched her with an uncanny amount of patience as she swayed in place.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm her shaken nerves, the wolf was the size of a small bear and Mary could see sharp teeth protruding from underneath its lips.

The wolf stalked towards her, and Mary was certain that she was doomed but the wolf simply pressed his nose into her palm reassuringly. "Well hello, you're surprisingly friendly." She knelt cautiously so as not to spook it and carefully rubbed between its ears.

The wolf huffed and nudged her hand when she stopped petting him. Mary looked closely at the wolf, it's coat was dirty and it had a scarred patch on the front left leg.

His intellegent eyes regarded her intently as she came to decision, "I'm not sure why I'm saying this but how 'bout you come home with me huh? You look hungry and you need a bath."

The wolf huffed again and seemed to almost smile, "Well come along, it's not far." Mary led the giant wolf to her home, semi-surprised that it actually followed her.

Mary's home was small, indeed, it was pretty much just a three room cottage. Just outside the back door there was a small garden and an old wash tub to which Mary pushed the massive wolf towards.

"In you get, I'm not letting you in the house until you have a bath." She rolled up her sleeves and prepared to bodily lift the wolf in when it snorted and jumped in on its own accord. He sat there waiting for her to turn on the water hose and get the shampoo with his tail thumping back and forth on the walls of the tin walls.

She laughed as he bit at the water that she sprayed into the bath, and laughed even harder when it accidently bit a soap bubble from the shampoo. The disgusted look and sounds it made trying to get rid of the clearly horrible taste were priceless.

When Mary finished scrubbing the friendly wolf down and it had let her towel it off she inspected him, the white X above his eyes deeply contrasted the pure black of the rest of his fur. His grey eyes glittered with intelligence, and there was something akin to humour in his eyes.

When Mary let him into the house he inspected each area of the small house very cautiously like he half expected something to jump out at him at any moment. After that he seemd to decide that the area right in front of the small fireplace was to his liking and curled up on the black rug in front of it with a little huff of satisfaction.

Mary shook her head in amusement at the large wolf curled up on her tiny rug, it looked ridiculously large in contrast, as she went to see what she had in the fridge that they could eat.

"Looks like we have chicken and brocoli tonight, and maybe some rice." Mary glanced at the wolf who's ears had perked up at the mention of food.

Smiling to herself Mary began to cook and talk to the wolf at the same time, "So my new friend, what should I call you? Bob?" A soft growl told her that name wasn't suitable, "What about Fido?" a snort was her reply this time, "Okay, how about Thunder?" She looked at the wolf who she could have sworn shrugged.

"Alright, you are now officially Thunder." with a florish Mary spooned rice and brocoli into a large dish over a diced chicken breast and sat it on the floor for her new pet. "Come and eat my friend." She motioned to the bowl and watched bemusedly as Thunder daintly ate the proffered meal.

Sitting down to eat her own meal at the table Mary noticed that once Thunder was done he very carefully picked up his bowl in his great mouth and with a bit of effort put it in the kitchen sink.

"Well that was polite of you." Mary finished her meal and went to clean the dishes while pondering the mannerisms of this strange wolf who had gone back to the rug in front of the fireplace.

Mary sat down in the floor with her back against the couch with a book in hand, "Come here Thunder." she patted the floor beside her. Thunder huffed and scooted himself over to her.

After both were found comfortable positions Mary began to read, the words comforting to both, and by the time she finished the book night had fallen.

"Well Thunder, I think it's time both of us were asleep. You can sleep out here tonight and tomorrow I will go to town and get you a comfortable bed." Mary stood up and gently patted Thunder on the head before she went to her room for the night.

Thunder curled himself up on the rug again, with a wide yawn he draped his tail around him and settled in for the night.


	4. Not Exactly Normal

It had been four days since John had run into Mary in his wolf form, and he still wasn't sure why he hadn't fled. When he had first seen her John had been struck by a moment of uncertainty, she had clearly been nervous but had seemed determined to show no more fear than the paling of her face, that alone had intrigued him.

When he had stalked closer for a better look, John noticed she had a fierce kindness about her that was filtering through her fear, and was creeping through the wave of instincts John had put up around his mind. For some reason he had gone close enough to touch her, to reassure, and when she asked him if he wanted to go home with her he had followed.

And even now, as he watched her prepare breakfast for them both from his spot on the hearth rug, John wasn't sure what kept him from just wandering off. Perhaps it was the soothing presence of someone who simply thought of him as a big pet, or perhaps it was the fact she seemed to simply accept him, that drew John to this sweet woman.

When Mary had read to him the first night she had seemed so relaxed as she read that John had found himself slowly unwinding, by the time she had finished for the night John was almost asleep.

* * *

Mary knew that her new pet 'Thunder' was a shifted human, she would have had to be blind to not notice how smart he was, but she also could see the intense pain in the wolf's eyes and hoped that he would shift back eventually. Mary wasn't sure what had caused him to go wild, but she had heard of it happening before.

In fact, her older brother, Verence, had gone wild after his wife died in a car accident. Verence had pined away in his animal form until he passed away in the middle of the night.

Mary was determined to save 'Thunder' from the same fate, she didn't want to see anyone else waste away like that. So far he seemed to be doing fairly well, sometimes he would seem to sink into his own dark world but whenever she read to him he seemed to come alive a bit more.

Mary supposed that most people would object to letting a shifted human stay in their home when it wasn't someone she even knew the name of, but Mary Morstan wasn't most people.


	5. Bite the Weasel

Mary adapted quickly to her new house guest, she would make food for both of them and then let Thunder out for a while before going to work on her manuscript for her novel. Then around noon she would make lunch and the afternoon varied whether she had to go to town or not. All in all Mary was comfortable and obiviously her new 'pet' was as well.

They had been quite comfortable until _he _showed up. Mary had been working in the garden when she heard a vehicle approaching her small home. Rising to her feet she glanced at Thunder who was clearly not happy with the intrusion into their comfortable little bubble. "I'm going to go see who it is, you stay here ok Thunder?"

A soft growl told her the wolf was content to stay put for now, and Mary walked around front just in time to see her ex-boyfriend Scott slide out of his little sports car.

"What do you want weasel?" Mary crossed her arms as she glared at the smarmy man in front of her.

Scott ran a hand over his oily black hair and gave her a charming smile, "Now darling be nice, I'm only here for a little chat." He moved a little closer, "I was just wondering if you would consider going to lunch with me at the club this Thursday."

Mary raised an eyebrow, "And why would I ever consider doing such a disgusting thing like that? You're little 'club' is no more than a bunch of lecherous snakes that don't know what no means."

"Now just because there was that one little incident with Marcus doesn't mean that everyone in the club is like that." Scott spread his hands placatingly, "Besides darling I'll be right there to keep things from getting out of hand if anyone gets to ah, over zealous."

"No." Mary shook her head, "Besides you and I aren't together anymore and I wouldn't _ever_ consider taking you back."

"Oh come on darling, we could be something, me with my charms and contacts and you with your skills in the literary arts." Scott got a little closer and snaked an arm around Mary before she could react.

"Get off me!" Mary tried to push him off but he was too strong, suddenly he screamed and twisted in agony letting go of Mary to flail at something now attatched to his leg.

Thunder had his jaws clamped down on his left leg, not crushing just yet but definitely breaking skin. Mary stared at Thunder for a moment in fascination as he seemed to swell in size and his lips drew back in a silent snarl showing where his sharp teeth had sunk into Scott's pant-leg.

"Thunder! Down boy, let him go, it's alright." Mary let out an audible sigh of relief when the massive wolf released Scott's leg with a look of what was most likely disgust.

Scott all but fell over, his face white from the pain of the bite and his eyes bugging out as he took in the snarling wolf that had positioned itself between himself and Mary.

"What the hell is that thing doing here?" Scott shouted as he wobbled backwards when Thunder took a menacing half-step forwards.

"Thunder is my new pet, and you are not welcome here anymore Scott Marton." Mary glared at him again, "And if you ever come back I will call the police and have them arrest you for harassment."

"But-" A low growl from Thunder whose teeth were dripping red silenced him rather swiftly.

"Now get." Mary's tone was steely, and there was clearly no room for negotiation. Scott scrambled away as fast as he could, he was in his car and out of sight as fast as the weasel he was could move.

Mary looked down at the still ruffed up wolf who was glaring down the drive still, "Thunder, it's alright, he's gone and won't be back." She stretched a tenative hand down and placed it very carefully in Thunder's ruff which started to settle back down.

Mary winced when Thunder swung his head around to face her and blood ran from his mouth, "Let's go get you cleaned up shall we?" She tried to be cheery but the sight of the blood reminded her of some very bad moments in her life and it honestly scared her to realize how much power her 'pet' had in his bite alone, not to mention his massive size.

The two made their way back to the garden where the hose and washtub sat, while Mary filled the tub Thunder stood off to the side with his ears down against his skull and tail tucked in-between his back legs clearly sad about something.

"Hop in my friend, I'm going to go get the soap." Mary motioned for Thunder to get in the tub as she headed into the house to retrieve the shampoo she used specifically on him.

After the bath and subsequent towel down Mary decided it was time for dinner, "What do you want tonight Thunder? Stir-fry or hamburgers?"

Thunder's ears went up at stir-fry and down at hamburgers, a sign that he was more excited for the stir-fry than the burger.

"Stir-fry it is." Mary smiled when she saw, and heard, Thunder's tail swish back and forth in happiness. While she was preparing the food Mary noticed that Thunder was splayed out on the hearth rug watching her through lidded eyes.

Once the last piece of chicken was consumed with the last clump of rice and the table had been cleared Mary pulled out their nightly book and settled herself in the floor to read. Thunder shuffled as close as he could without actually being in her lap before she began to read, by the end of that night's chapter Thunder's chin rested on her leg in comfortable companionship.


	6. Safe and Sound

"I'm telling you, the thing is a monster, its no normal wolf." Scott sat raving as constable Marvin listened to his account of the vicious assault on him, "I mean, look at this bite."

"I see it sir," the short and slightly chubby, constable eyed the pulled back bandages on Scott's leg, "I'm not sure what I can do."

"Couldn't you at least go out there and do something to get rid of that thing? It's dangerous, it attacked me for no reason and who knows when it'll turn on Mary."

"I'll go out there and check it out, we don't want anything bad happening to Ms. Morstan." Marvin nodded to himself as though the prospect of facing down a giant wolf by himself wasn't daunting in the least.

"Thank you Marvin, I couldn't bear it if something happened to her." Gratitude seemed to pour off of Scott as he smiled broadly at Marvin.

"Yeah, yeah." Marvin waved him away, "I'll go up there this afternoon and see what it looks like."

* * *

Mary sighed and pushed her hair back from her face where it had fallen over her eyes. Her manuscript was finally finished, and she hoped that her editor would be happy with it.

She moved out of her study and glanced into the backyard where Thunder had been lying peacefully in the sun. Now however the massive wolf was glaring at a butterfly which kept landing on his nose and ears. Mary laughed and opened the door, "Thunder, is that butterfly being troublesome?" Her voice shook with laughter as the wolf shot her a stare that clearly read he did not find this a laughing matter.

"Come on big guy, how bout a nice cool drink and some lunch?" Mary held the door open for Thunder who stalked inside after snorting at the pesky butterfly one last time. Mary shook her head and followed him in.

It was almost three o'clock when Mary heard a car pull into the driveway just moments after Thunder's ears went up and then back. "I wonder who it is." Mary opened the front door just as the bell rang.

"Constable Marvin, how nice of you to drop by." Mary felt some confusion as to why the cheerful constable was on her doorstep.

"Good afternoon Ms. Morstan, I am sorry about intruding but I'm afraid I've had a report of a vicious animal living on your premises and need to check things out." Constable Marvin smiled in apology.

"Oh, a vicious animal?" Mary knew immediately that the weasel Scott had squealed to the constable about Thunder's attack, "Thats not good at all, what kind of animal?" She decieded that playing dumb was her best option.

"By the eyewitness report it's a monstrous wolf." The constable shifted nervously back and forth as if he expected the wolf to appear out of nowhere and bite his leg in two.

"Oh, they must have seen Thunder out and about," Mary turned and called into the house, "Thunder come here boy." Mary stepped aside as Thunder filled the doorway, "I just got him a few days ago."

Constable Marvin almost fainted at the sight of the massive wolf before him and he asked weakly, "Is it safe to have him around?"

Mary laughed, "I'm safer than I've ever been constable, don't worry about me."

"Right then, I think I'll be going since everything is clearly just fine." Constable Marvin almost squeaked the last part of his sentence out before beating a hasty retreat.

Mary leaned on the door frame amused as the constable did a quick march back to his car where he fumbled with his keys, dropped them once, then managed to get into the car before almost dropping them again.

"Well that was interesting." Mary shook her head and glanced down at Thunder who looked up at her at the same time and she could see the amusement in his deep eyes before he dropped his head and went back inside to his bed by the hearth.

* * *

John had almost gagged when he had bitten into the man, Scott's, leg. The taste of blood brought back too many painful memories but what had disturbed him most of all had been the expression on Mary's face. He had seen a mixture of horror and fear that terrified him, he had thought that it was all over and she was going to make him leave.

But then all she had said was that he needed a bath, John laid on the bed she had gotten him and thought about all the kindness Mary had shown him. The pain he had been feeling before he had met her had diminished, indeed, he felt that he could almost return to normal except for the fact that he didn't know how she would react.

_Perhaps it is time to stop hiding from myself and come to terms with what has happened, but the question is will she accept me? Because if there is anyone in this world I want to spend the rest of my life with it would be her. _


	7. In For a Penny, In For a Pound

"Thunder, I have to go to town, I'll be back around five ok?" Mary frowned at the wolf who had been in a semi-trance for the past two days, he had barely moved other than to do what was necessary for staying alive.

"Right then, I left some rice in your bowl if you get hungry and I'll leave the radio on so you don't get too bored." Mary frowned again and picked up her purse and left hoping that Thunder was alright it had been three weeks since the constable had come by and Thunder had been getting a faraway look in his eyes every once in a while but nothing like this.

* * *

John barely heard Mary's words he was so lost in his thoughts, _should I shift back into a human? Is it even worth trying to live as a human again? Would she accept me? I don't know if I could handle a rejection, but I think she knows I'm not normal. Even if she does know would she accept me? Would she understand that I'm broken but slowly healing? She's seen the monster I can be, even if it was only a glimpse, I don't know how she'll react if she realizes I'm human._

John snorted and rolled over, _of course she knows, I couldn't be more obvious if I tried. I've done things no normal animal could do, I act like a moody human, oh wait, I am. It's so much easier to live as an animal though. I don't have to do anything major, I'm basically a well-loved pet, and I'm bored out of my mind. Maybe she would accept me._

A song came on and caught John's attention, the song seemed to be talking about a girl who died suddenly and didn't want anyone to mourn over her because she'd be in a better place but she also seemed to be saying that she wished she could have savored life a little more. For some reason it struck a chord with him and John felt the urge to shift back to a human form for the first time in two weeks.

_Why not? It's not like I can lose too much if I shift now, besides, she'll be gone for a while._

Within a few moments of concentration John Watson sat where Thunder had laid and he stretched upwards. At first he was a bit unsteady on two legs but after a few moments of walking around he glanced around the kitchen.

_I'm in for a penny in for a pound at this point, I might as well do a bit of cleaning._

John dusted and swept the tiny house then mopped and cleaned up the kitchen before deciding that he was going to cook dinner for two. A glance at the clock he noticed it was four o'clock already.

_I'd better get moving if I'm going to get cooking._

It was only a few moments later that John realized that if he did go ahead and cook that would mean he had resigned himself to an awkward evening of explanations and possible rejection.

_I've already cleaned everything, and she seems so nice to me all the time...but will she accept me?_

John's thoughts went round and round before he forcibly stopped himself, "I will cook dinner, and I will try my best to explain everything to her."

"Well that's good, although you could start with your real name." The softer voice made him almost jump out of his skin, he had debated so long and so intently with himself that he hadn't heard her come home or notice the passage of time.

Mary was leaning casually against the dining table like she wasn't bothered at all by having a strange man in her kitchen. "Oh, you're home." John felt the beginning fluttering of panic as he tried to keep from bolting out the door.

"Yes, I've been here almost five minutes." Mary smiled at him, "It's alright, you can talk to me, I promise I'll listen through everything you have to say."

"Really?"

"I promise."

John took a deep breath, "My name is John Watson, I was Sherlock Holmes closest friend..."

* * *

**A/N:** Well John is back in human form, and for those of you who don't know the line "in for a penny, in for a pound" basically means since he's already done as much as he has there's no point in turning back now.

Hope you're enjoying this story,

^_^ KB


	8. A Few Explanations

Dinner had been long since prepared and consumed, now John and Mary sat opposite each other at the dining table in silence as Mary digested all that had been divulged to her by John.

He had told her almost everything that had happened to him up to the moment when she found him, and was waiting for her to say something in response.

"If you want me to go I will, I understand if this whole thing has made you uncomfortable." John shifted in his chair unsure of how long his welcome would last now that he was no longer 'Thunder' the pet.

"No," Mary looked up from her hands, "John, I knew from the first night you spent here you weren't a real animal, you didn't act like one."

"Then why did you let me stay?" John was confused, she had let a complete and total stranger stay in her home.

"Because I saw the pain in you that I saw in my brother before he died." Mary spoke softly, "And I knew that I couldn't just let you leave, so I decided to take you in as a pet in order to help you heal."

"Weren't you afraid though?"

"A bit when I first saw you, but after you put your nose into my hand I knew you were gentle." Mary smiled at him as she recalled that moment of surprise.

John bowed his head, "I hate being such a monstrous animal when I shift."

"You aren't monstrous John, you're kindness shows through no matter what form you're in." Mary laid her hand on top of John's, "And I like your shift form, its strong, protective, a bit scary, and still you."

"You really think so?" John looked her straight in the eyes.

"Yes I do, and I'll tell you what why don't you stay with me?"

"Really?" John couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when Mary nodded yes, "Thank you Mary, I appreciate it."

"I'm just glad I can help you out." Mary smiled, "I was worried that you were regressing the past couple of days but I guess you just had a lot on your mind."

John stood up, "I'll take care of the dishes, it's the least I can do."

"Nonsense, its my home, I'll do the dishes since you're the guest." Mary stood and shook her finger at him.

"Not if I get there first." John swept up the plates and turned towards the sink only to collide with Mary as the two of them rushed the sink.

Two hands touched the faucet simultaneously and both of them laughed, "I think we'll have to call this one a draw wouldn't you say Mary?"

"I tell you what, one of us can wash, the other can dry." She smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Sounds good, I'll wash and you can dry."

The two worked in companionable silence for some time before Mary decided to ask a question that had been bugging her for some time, "John, can I ask you something?"

The blonde turned to her, "Of course, what is it?"

"I, well, its a bit personal and if you don't want to answer don't, but were you and Sherlock shiftmates?"

There was a long silence before John replied, "Yeah, we were. It was purely platonic but we were shift mates alright." His voice was laced with emotion, and he seemed near tears suddenly.

"I see..." Mary put the dish down she had dried and gently wrapped her arms around John, "Do you think it would help talking about it?"

"Maybe..." John let the tears that had gathered in his eyes flow, "But not right now, the grief is still too raw for me to handle."

Mary nodded, "I understand, I'm sorry." John patted her arm awkwardly.

"It's alright, I understand being curious." John gave her a weak smile, "I'll tell you another day ok?"

"Whenever you're ready." Mary pulled away from the hug, "Now I'd better go get a couple of spare blankets from the closet, you'll want them tonight on the couch."

"Thanks." John finished washing the last dish and dried his hands before helping her make the couch into a semi decent bed.

"I'm going to bed, night John." Mary gave him another quick hug before retreating to her room.

"Night Mary." He sat down on the couch feeling exhausted both physically and mentally.


	9. Memory Lane

That night proved a trip down memory lane for John as he lay awake remembering how he and Sherlock had been so very close. Their bond was that of friendship, and it had formed so fast that both men had to agree that they were platonic shiftmates.

* * *

They had just gotten back to the flat after the Study in Pink events as John had dubbed it and were collapsed in the sitting room still laughing from their antics in the Chinese restaurant that had nearly gotten them kicked out. Sherlock sprawled out on the couch while John sank into his already claimed armchair.

"John, what you did tonight was something I never thought anyone would ever would do." Sherlock sat up and leaned forward, "I'd like to thank you."

John just shrugged, "I wasn't about to let my mad flatmate get killed by a cabbie, that would be a horrible disgrace."

"True," Sherlock smiled, "and I'm glad you didn't." he flopped back onto the couch as John stood up with a sigh.

"I'm going to bed, good night Sherlock." John yawned simultaneously with Sherlock and both of them grinned.

"I think I'm going to crash for a while as well." Sherlock pulled himself off the couch and patted John's shoulder as he went past, both of them feeling the zap of static electricity run through them.

"Ouch, Sherlock." John glared at the taller man who shrugged slightly before heading on to bed.

Later that night, or rather, really early the next morning Sherlock woke to the sound of someone falling out of bed. Out of concern and curiosity Sherlock crept up the stairs to John's bedroom where he could hear the something moving around, but the sound was odd, like John wasn't alone in the room.

A sudden wave of panic hit him, what if someone had broken in and gone after John? Sherlock ripped open the bedroom door to see a massive snarling wolf trapped in blankets. It took Sherlock a few seconds to comphrend that the beast in front of him was actually John's shifted form, the wolf was so vicious looking he had trouble recognizing John's calm intelligence.

A few seconds later Sherlock was in his own shift form side by side with John, trying to calm the other man down from his panicking state.

John had been dreaming of the first time he had shifted when he realized that he had shifted and there was something leaning beside him. Turning his head John came face to face with a massive cheetah. Startled he jerked only to find himself entangled in his blankets causing him to flop back over onto the cheetah which grunted when the wolf's weight crashed into it.

John forced himself to calm down and closed his eyes to gather himself before shifting back, when he opened his eyes he found himself face to face with Sherlock instead of a cheetah.

"Um..." John stared awkwardly, "What are you doing in my room?"

Sherlock cleared his throat and sat up before answering, "I heard you fall out of bed and was concerned."

John struggled to untangle himself from the blankets, "Oh."

Neither was sure if the other wanted to discuss what had just taken place. It was Sherlock who finally broke the silence, "So, a wolf huh? That's a very powerful form."

John looked away, "Yeah, does it scare you?"

Sherlock could hear the hidden fear in the ex-soldier's voice so he chose his words carefully, "Your form itself doesn't scare me, it's what you choose to do with the power granted in that form that could be possibly scary. But as it is I'm not afraid of you because I know you would never hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it."

John looked Sherlock straight in the eye, "So you accept the fact that I've got the power to do harm, but aren't afraid for yourself."

Sherlock could see just the tinyist bit of relief in the blonde's deep eyes, "Exactly, you are a good person, your form is something you can protect people with."

John smiled, "I see, and you're a cheetah I take it?"

Sherlock grinned, "Close enough, I'm an acinonyx which is basically the cheetah's prehistoric cousin."

"I see, and technically I'm not a regular wolf, I'm a canis dirus, the prehistoric cousin of the grey wolf."

"Ah, so in other words, we're both ancient." The mirth in Sherlock's voice was infectious, and soon both men were laughing at the silliness of the situation.

From that moment on the two grew to understand each other's in's and out's, the do's and don'ts of living together. The two bachelors mutually agreed that they were shiftmates, they had felt the bond between them grow to the point that there was no denying it.

* * *

**A/N: **I hope the POV switch isn't too confusing, and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

^_^ KB


	10. The Weasel Comes Back

The doctor could hear someone calling his name, but it sounded far away and he felt so oddly sleepy. At first he couldn't figure out why everything was the wrong way up but then he realized he had at some point in the night he had managed to wind the blankets around himself to the point that when he had begun thrashing in his sleep he had managed to slide halfway off the couch.

"John?" Mary's bemused expression brought him back to reality, "You alright there?"

He righted himself a bit too quickly and with an undignified flop ended up on the floor by her feet. Clearing his voice John grinned at her from the ground, "I'm just fine this morning, how are you?"

"Oh I'm fine, would you like some help up?" Mary stretched out her hand and John took it gratefully.

Once he was on his feet and the blankets were folded neatly once more Mary went into the kitchen to find breakfast.

"So what would you like to eat?" She asked over her shoulder as she peered into the fridge, "Sadly whatever we have won't be with milk, we're out."

John snorted, "How about a cup of tea and a biscuit or two?"

"Sounds good to me. Want some jam on them?"

"What kind?" John's voice came from behind her so suddenly that Mary nearly dropped the jar of jam she had been holding.

"Strawberry!" She whirled around to find John less than a foot away from her with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, didn't mean to sneak up on you." He carefully took the jam from her and set it on the table.

"Its alright," Mary pushed her hair out of her face, "I'm just not used to having another person in the house I guess."

"I can understand that." John gave her a wry smile, "Shall we enjoy our simple breakfast?" He gestured to the now set table.

"Sounds good to me." They had just sat down to eat when there was a knock on the door.

Mary stood up again, "Who in the world could it be this early in the morning?" She moved to the front door to unlock it but paused just before she did, "Would you feel more comfortable in your shift form?" She glanced back at John who shook his head no.

"I'll be fine."

"All right then." Mary pulled open the door to find Scott on the other side, "What do you want weasel?" She crossed her arms and heard John get up.

"That's not nice sweet heart, I thought I'd just come see how you were doing." Scott leaned against the doorframe, "Besides if I don't check up on my favorite gal every once and a while what kind of guy am I huh?"

"You aren't welcome here Scott, now get lost." Mary slammed the front door only for it to hit Scott's foot and bounce back to hit her in the face. She stumbled backwards as Scott forced his way in.

"Now that wasn't nice at all," He grabbed at her arm only to be picked up by the back of his neck.

"I don't think you're welcome here." John pulled Scott away from Mary who was leaning against the wall with her hand over her forehead.

"Who the hell are you?" The man's face contorted in shock and anger, "This is between me and sweet heart here, so let me go and get lost."

"I don't think so." John literally threw Scott out the front door, "Don't come back again, or else I'll have to get nasty." The blue-eyed blonde all but snarled the last few words at the smaller man before he slammed the front door and locked it.

He turned to examine Mary who was still leaning against the wall, "Let me take a look at that bump on your forehead."

Mary flinched as his rough hands came into contact with the already darkening bruise, "I don't think it's too bad but I've got a headache already."

John nodded, "You're right, it's just going to be tender for a bit, how bout you go sit down and I'll get you some ice for it?" He moved off to the kitchen while Mary carefully sank down into the couch still clutching her head.

"Thanks John." Mary gratefully took the icepack and placed it over the already swelling bump, "That little weasel is getting on my nerves."

"Do you mind my asking why you ever went out with him in the first place?" John sat down next to Mary on the couch.

She sighed and stared at the wall for a minute before replying, "I met him my third year of university, I was studying for finals on the campus lawn when I first saw him. Scott wasn't half bad at the time, at least that's what I thought. He sweet talked me into going on a date with him, I remember we ended up going to a little French café that was just off campus. I had never dated anyone before and I hadn't really ever had any experience in love before, so I pretty much threw myself into our relationship.

I did everything I could to please him, and he took advantage of that. Whenever I wanted to hang out and he couldn't he gave me the excuse of work, he always said he was busy selling cars or working at the downtown café. It wasn't until about a year of dating him I found out that his real job was selling not so legal items to underage minors." Mary paused in thought.

"When I confronted him about it he told me that he didn't view it as bad, he just thought of it as business. I got out of the relationship then but he keeps trying to worm his way back."

John shook his head, "I wish I had bitten him harder."

Mary laughed, "I wish you had bitten him a little higher up, then he would have been in real trouble."

"Bleck, his leg was bad enough, I don't think that man washes his clothing more than once a month."

"I bet its more like every two months." Mary snorted in laughter and John couldn't help but join in.

The two sat and laughed together for several minutes before John stood up and extended his hand to Mary, "Shall we finish our breakfast my friend?"

Mary took his hand happily with her free hand, "We shall."


	11. Fair Warning & Tradgedy Once Again

After breakfast Mary insisted she needed to talk to John, and so they sat down once again at the dining table.

"What's up?" John asked as he sat back down at the table after helping put away the food items.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about whether or not you want to continue to stay here." Mary took a deep breath, "I don't mind if you want to stay but I understand if you want to leave. All I ask is that you give me fair warning before you leave and don't sneak off in the middle of the night or something crazy like that."

"I wouldn't sneak out in the middle of the night Mary." John gave a soft laugh, "I don't think I could find in me to leave you're good cooking to fend for myself again."

Mary's eyes sparkled in amusement as she laughed with him, "So the key to taming you is good food?"

"Exactly." John nodded sagely before cracking up laughing.

They both laughed for a few before Mary started to speak again, "Well, as long as you're staying here I'd like to ask you to take care of a few things for me, this old house needs a bit of repair work and if you don't mind helping me out I'll let you stay as long as you like."

"Sounds like a deal to me, I'm happy to help." John smiled softly at her noting how her warm brown eyes seemed to shimmer in the morning light.

"Good, we can start by cleaning the gutters." she stood up with a matching smile.

* * *

Four happy months flew by and the cold weather was creeping back when disaster struck. Mary had gone out to get groceries earlier, but hadn't come back yet and it was getting late, so John decided to go out looking for her.

He had shifted and was bounding along the side of the highway when he smelled smoke, turning the sharp corner in the road John found a sight he was unprepared for.

A small car and a semi had collided in the middle of the road, both were on fire, the car was crumpled like a tin can and the semi was flipped upside-down. From where John was he could see that the driver in the semi was trapped but he couldn't tell whether or not there was anyone left in the car.

He shifted quickly back to his human form as he sprinted towards the burning vehicles. It wasn't until he was right next to the car that he recognized it as Mary's. Forgetting all about the other person John tore at the driver side door of the little car trying to get to Mary who he could now see slumped over the wheel of the car.

The door frame had been bent in the crash though and he couldn't pry it open with just his bare hands so John wrapped his hand in his jacket and smashed through the window instead.

He managed to unhook Mary's seat belt and pulled her out of the car to safety just before the gas tank of the semi exploded and the car followed.

John shielded Mary's body with himself trying to keep her from being injured any worse. It wasn't until he had pulled back to examine her that John realized her neck had been snapped in the crash, and she wasn't breathing.

"No..." John touched her already cooling face, "No, no, no, no..." tears slipped down his cheeks to land on hers as the reality of the situation set in.

Mary Morstan was gone, his last friend in the world, the one who had saved him from the darkness of his depression had been ripped away just like that.

The sound of sirens brought John back to reality, and his fight or flight instinct kicked in, shifting in the blink of an eye John Watson once again disappeared from the world.


	12. The Broken Hero

He ran day and night trying to escape the horrible memories and pain of losing yet another person dear to him. Images of Mary's broken body haunted him now along with Sherlock's jump. John ran until he almost collapsed of exhaustion, and when he finally halted his pounding paws he found himself next to a small stream.

Lowering his weary head to drink from the water John gulped down the icy water not caring that he would probably throw it all back up.

He had laid down and was about to drift off to sleep when he heard the first scream, his eyes flew open and his ears stood straight up as he lifted his head trying to pinpoint the location of the sound.

Another scream cut through the air to his left closer this time and he surged back to his feet and took off towards the sound. He wound through the trees and brush as fast as he could, paws flying every way as a third desperate scream resounded in the still forest.

John came over the crest of a small hill and found the source of the screams, a young boy was being attacked by a wild dog. The little blonde boy was trying to get away from the dog but he had clearly fallen several times in the attempt to escape and the black dog had bitten his arm.

John surged forward, ramming into the dog and knocking it away from the boy as he lifted his teeth in a savage snarl.

The dog lunged for John's throat with an equally savage snarl, John was faster though and snapped his teeth around the mangy dog's neck snapping it with a rough shake.

The dog whimpered once and went completely limp, only then did John drop it to the ground.

John turned to see the little boy clutching his heavily bleeding arm in fear, the child's wide green eyes were rimmed with unshed tears of pain.

John stepped carefully towards the boy as he tried to assess the damage, he lowered his nose to the boy's arm sniffed once then looked him straight in the eye.

The child whimpered and reached out a hesitant hand to touch John's large black nose. John leaned into the touch and closed his eyes briefly.

John reopened his eyes and knelt down beside the child bending his neck and great back so that the child could ride on him. It took several minutes for the boy to find the courage to climb on but once he did and had a good hold on John's fur, John started moving, following his nose to track the little boy's wandering path back to where he belonged.

It took him the better part on an hour to reach the outskirts of a small village. As he trotted along the little road through the middle of town trying to find the local doctor John realized the child was starting to lose consciousness.

John headed straight for the closest door to him and started scratching at it desperately. A young woman opened it and screamed in fear briefly, then saw the child on John's back and gasped.

"William!" She snatched up the little boy who was beginning to slide off John's back.

The instant the child was off of John's back he turned away and bolted leaving the terrified woman clutching the child and screaming for a doctor.

He couldn't take anymore human contact, it was too painful.

* * *

John ran on again stopping once in a while to drink from creeks and puddles, resting briefly before continuing.

He had just gotten up after several restless hours of sleep and was wandering along when he heard gunshots.

Alert and ready for trouble John loped forward looking all around him for the source of the disturbance.

Shouts and more shots rang out ahead of him and John ran up a hill and looked down, below him sat a large train yard where he saw what was going on immediately; a gang of robbers were trying to steal a shipment of freshly printed money and they were attempting to shoot their way out of the place.

John could see five men in masks and at least ten police officers in various places crouching here and there. The police officers couldn't get through the robbers defenses and the robbers couldn't escape without leaving their prize behind.

The robbers had taken refuge behind a stack of massive shipping crates and were shooting over and around them at the cops when they had openings.

The police were behind their own crates and were scrambling to figure out how to get the robbers out without killing anyone.

John however was in the perfect position to strike the robbers from behind so he crept down the side of the hill while he hoped no one noticed him. He lowered himself to as close to the ground as he could in order to minimize his chances of being shot or seen.

He crept up right behind one of the robbers and just as the man raised his gun to shoot at the cops John lunged forward and snapped his massive jaws around the mans leg and shook, snapping it like a twig.

The man screamed like a child and dropped his gun towards where John was, but John was already gone onto the next robber who also got a nasty bite to the leg.

Now all the robbers were screaming and pointing at John who let out a snarling howl as he released the man's leg.

John drew himself up to his full height and howled again, this time baring his bloody teeth and taking a menacing step forward.

The remaining three robbers looked at each other, dropped their guns and ran towards the police line screaming bloody murder.

John looked at the two robbers he had bitten, sniffed once, and walked around the crates towards the police line.

His appearance clearly terrified the four police officers who weren't busy handcuffing the robbers.

They all screamed and went for their guns again in a panic, but John was gone by the time they had their guns up and ready to aim. All that remained as evidence of his interference were the two giant bite marks on the robber's legs.


	13. The Crossroads

John didn't stop moving again until he came to an old beaten up path that had three forks to choose from. The left path lead out across a swath of farmland while the right hand path bent towards the eastern coast, the center path lead straight into the darkly forested hills to the north.

The paths on the left and the right were very worn down, deep ruts from various vehicles over the years collected puddles of muddy rainwater. The center path was less traveled, tall grass grew as did winding bramble bushes that wound up and around the crooked trees.

John sat down at that fork and thought long and hard about which path to take, _if I go to the left I'll be going through all farmland for several miles, and if I go right I'll be on the coast probably near Denarim. The path through the center of the forest will mostly likely be deserted but I don't know how far it goes._

As John sat there, his great tail brushing back and forth across the ground sweeping up dirt and small rocks he smelled it, smoke.

Nose to the wind John could tell it was coming from his right, the path to the coast. Without hesitating any longer he heaved himself to his feet and began trotting down the little lane following his nose.

* * *

Within mere minutes he found the source of the smoke, a small dilapidated farm house had caught on fire and was rapidly becoming consumed by the greedy flames.

There were already three fire engines there to fight the fire, but from what John could see of the people standing a little ways away from the blaze there was something badly amiss. One man was clearly pleading with one of the firefighters.

He snuck closer to try to hear what was going on, "...sir, please my daughter is trapped in there with her friend, they should be in the cellar." The man, mid fourties, bald, was clearly pleading with the muscular firefighter.

John had now snuck into the bushes right beside the firefighter and was listening in as the firefighter tried to placate the man, "Sir I'm sorry but we can't risk it that building is about to come down."

John looked toward the building in question and decided since no one could tell him otherwise he would get the children out.

He darted out of the bushes, startling all the people around, and flew past the firefighters straight into the stream of water from the massive hose that they were using to put out the flames. His fur was soaked in seconds, and he headed straight for the growing blaze ignoring the shouts of dismay behind him.

It took only seconds for John get through the flames to the cellar which was miraculously open and only burning a little. He darted down the rickety stairs just before a burning beam smashed down from above. He swung his head back and forth trying to find the children, his eyes felt like they were burning because of the smoke.

He spotted them huddled in the corner crying, in two large leaps he was there protecting them from the beams that were beginning to collapse all around. He pulled both of them under his massive frame with his mouth, careful not to hurt them, and tucked his head down to make sure both of them were completely covered.

John prayed that the children would make it out of this, he didn't want to see more lives lost. The fire raged overhead and beams fell with thunderous crashes all around them, but John stood unflinching through it all. He could feel his fur starting to catch fire when suddenly all he felt was cold wetness.

The roar of the fire was quickly becoming a muted crackle as the firefighters continued to quench the flames. His fur now sagged heavily with water and blood as he waited out the rest of the fire.

John stood steadfast until he heard the firefighters give the all clear for search call, he lifted up his head and let loose a bone chilling howl to tell those outside he was alive.

He heard yells and a group of firefighters soon appeared at the edge the cellar. John stepped to the side to reveal the two terrified children underneath him to those above. Through their masks John could see that just about all of their jaws dropped in shock.

John waited patiently by the children as the firefighters made a safe path to rescue them. Once a ladder had been put down and as the first man came down it John sat down wearily, blood was pooling at his feet from where he had accidently cut his paws on debris.

The man approached slowly and stretched out a hand to take hold of the little girl closest to him when John huffed and pushed her with one of his forelegs towards the man.

The man hoisted the little girl onto his shoulder and carried her to the ladder where others were waiting to rush her out of the wreckage. Once the second girl was removed in the same manner the firefighter slowly approached John with his hands open to either side of him.

John stood up with a grunt and staggered towards the man, his torn paws throbbing painfully. The man had frozen the instant John had moved and nearly jumped out of his skin when John pressed his nose into his open palm and whined just before his legs gave out.

John knew he couldn't make it out of the cellar by himself, he was too injured to do so. The startled firefighter carefully placed an arm under John's forelegs then his other arm under John's hindquarters. The man picked him up and staggered over to the ladder where he shouted for a stretcher that they could put John on.

One of the firemen lowered down a large bright orange stretcher that had multiple safety straps attached to it. John was gently settled onto the stretcher and the man yelled up again, "Davis, let the paramedics know that this fella needs treated too. Jacob, get ready to hoist him."

A team of four firefighters carefully raised John up to the ground level where they quickly carried him out of the smoldering rubble to the waiting paramedics.

John was vaguely aware as they tried to place an oxygen mask over his nose to help him breathe, while one firefighter was examining his paws carefully and another was checking his fur for burns or cuts.

He drifted off for a while, exhausted from his ordeal and having been running for several days on end. When John woke up again he was still on the orange stretcher but now he had a large bright green shock blanket draped over him and there was a group of people clearly discussing what to do with him.

"He saved those children-"

"But we don't know if he's dangerous or not."

"Surely he's not dangerous, I mean, look at what he endured to save those children!"

"You can't tell if he's dangerous or not Davis."

"We don't even know what exactly it is, he's too big to be a wolf."

John raised his head slowly trying to ignore the pounding headache he had, apparently the motion didn't go unnoticed.

"He's awake!" All of the people faced him as he struggled to his aching feet. One of the men came forward, the one who had picked him up originally, "Easy there pal, easy." John shook his head trying to clear the headache forcefully.

All of them took a step back when John gingerly stretched to his full height and yawned, then met the man's gaze to hold it.

"I don't know what you are, or why you did what you did, but those two kids are safe cause of you." The man knelt down on one knee and reached out a hand, "So thank you." John dipped his head down once and leaned into the man's hand to lick it.

John then turned and started to trot away, wincing with each step that brought a cut paw back down on the ground. But he felt it was worth the pain to know that he had saved those children. No one made any move to stop him although several reached towards him before drawing back again.

John slowly made his along the road to the coastal town of Denarim, he wasn't sure what he was going to do but he knew that Denarim was the right place to go. He knew it would take him several days to heal up again before he could run but he knew that he was doing the right thing.

_Perhaps being a vigilante is the solution to this whole thing, I have no ties, no obligations to anyone anymore, no reason not to help people the best I can, so why not? Let's see who I can help, and who knows? Maybe this is the reason I'm still alive._


	14. A Bombing & An Unexpected Meeting

Denarim was a decent sized town, not to big but not so small that he wouldn't be able to conceal himself if necessary. The town sprawled out along a large bluff overlooking the ocean, the church spires from the one major cathedral in the town rose above the rest of the smaller buildings.

The salty sea breeze made his thick fur dance wildly, the sun reflected off the far off water making it sparkle brilliantly.

He could see from his vantage point that most of the people seemed to be gathered in a central park for some sort of festival, he could smell the BBQ grills from where he was.

John had sat above the pretty little town admiring it for quite a while before he worked up the courage to actually go down the hill to the first small cottages that sprawled out around the town.

He felt a bit conspicuous as he stalked past the small buildings, reminded of the fairytale of the Three Little Pigs.

John kept walking, glancing around periodically to make sure no one was running screaming about a giant wolf. His paws still ached pretty bad from his fire rescue, but knowing those two children were alive and safe because of him was worth it.

He made it about halfway to the park he had seen when an explosion rocked his world, his sensitive ears were ringing, his nose assaulted by the smell of smoke once more, and his eyes closed tight to keep falling debris from getting into them.

John's first instinct was to flatten himself to the ground then as his hearing returned he heard the screams of the people in the park. John didn't hesitate at all, he sprang to all four paws once again and sprinted to the source of the disaster.

When he reached the park it was pure chaos, people were rushing every which way, some towards the blazing fire that was rapidly engulfing what looked like a small delicatessen, most were trying to get away from it though. John could see several bodies trapped under rubble.

Not wasting anymore time he leapt forward to help move to free those trapped. Shifting in the blink of an eye back to his human form John helped a group of men lift a large piece of rubble off of a young couple. Once they were pulled back out of harm's way the men moved to the next piece of rubble.

Systematically they pulled or carried the unconscious bodies to safety as the firefighters swarmed the scene to fight the spreading fire. The small antique shop to the left of the deli had caught on fire, and the flames were about to reach the salon on the right.

Once it looked like everyone had been pulled from the rubble John started examining people to make sure that there were no life threatening injuries to be dealt with. Thankfully the worst wound he found was a broken arm, a young man had been pinned under the rubble and his arm had been snapped in three places.

John administered what first aid he could before paramedics could get there, and once the cops showed up John decided it was time to leave. He walked in human form to the police barricade that had been set up to keep the civilian gawkers back and immediately wished he hadn't, because right in front of him with her jaw wide open was Sally Donavon.


	15. Cleaning Wounds, Old & New

"John?" Sally stepped forward examining the man in front of her, "John Watson is that really you?" The haggard blonde man in front of her clearly hadn't shaved in several days, but the piercing blue eyes were there.

He seemed to be thinking about running off but sighed instead and ran a black hand through his wild hair, "Yeah its me Sally, but can we talk somewhere out of the way?"

"Sure, there's an alley right over there." Sally let him lead the way since she wasn't sure he wouldn't disappear the instant she looked away.

John leaned against the rough brick wall, hissing slightly when he accidently ran a hand down it.

"John, how are you here?" Sally reached forward hesitantly wondering if the man was really there, "They had footage that you jumped, we all thought you had killed yourself."

"I tried to Sally, I really did, but somehow I survived." John examined his hand and spoke to himself, "It's no wonder my paws hurt when I run."

"What?" Sally inched closer to see what he was looking at, only to flinch away in horror, "My God John, your hands are ripped up and there are burns all over them, what the hell happened to you?"

"I saved a couple of kids in a fire, got all cut up cause of the debris." John sighed, "I really should clean them soon."

Sally nodded, "I tell you what, stay here and I'll go get a first aid kit."

"All right, I promise I'll be right here." John leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes as she all but ran for a kit.

While Sally was getting the kit from the trunk of her car she thought about how different John seemed now. His appearance had never been so haphazard, she'd never seen the man so scruffy or so dirty. It was as if he had let himself go completely wild. The only thing about his appearance that truly had remained the same was his eyes.

The fierce determination and almost dominating look in his eyes was still there, despite the tired lines around his eyes that were darker and larger than ever.

She got back to John's side in record time, "Here, I got a full kit plus I have protein bar and a bottle of water."

"Great, set it on that crate over there for me will you?" John motioned towards a tall wooden packing crate a little farther down the alley.

"Sure," Sally sat the kit down and pulled out the antibacterial wipes, "give me your hands and I'll clean them up." She watched John's expression change rapidly from surprise to resignation.

"I can do it myself."

"Not with both hands messed up you can't." Sally placed her hands on her hips and leveled her very best, _I'm going to have my way_, look at him.

John reluctantly held out both hands, "Just be gentle, and no band aids please, gauze only if you must."

"I'll be gentle, I promise." Sally took his left hand by the wrist and tenderly started cleaning each cut and burn.

"So what are you doing here of all places?" She'd known sooner or later he'd ask that question and she sighed.

"Long story short a bit after the whole fiasco with Sher-him, it came out that he was actually innocent and as one of his main accusers I was...transferred here." Sally could still feel the bitter sting from when she received her transfer papers.

"Ah." She looked up to see John's expression become even sadder, "I'm sorry Sally."

"Why? It's my fault that he, did what he did in the end." Sally hung her head as tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, "And when I heard you had jumped, well, I realized London had lost not only one, but two great men." Her voice was so very soft towards the end of her sentence that John had to lean forward to hear her.

"Its not your fault Sally, you were just doing your job, albeit you were a bit nasty about it at times."

"I know, and if I could do it over again knowing what I know now I would do things differently." Sally looked up to see John's sad eyes fixed on hers.

"We all would if we had known." He spoke softly, "I was shattered after he jumped, so I decided to jump as well, I had no reason to keep living."

Sally finished cleaning his left hand and moved on to the right using a clean wipe, "None of us realized how badly affected you were John, someone would have helped you if we had known."

"There wasn't anything anyone could have done." John sounded resigned and tired as though he had been wrestling with his inner demons for too long.

She felt John tense as she pulled a nasty splinter out of his hand, "The good news is we're almost done here Doc." She flashed him a small smile of reassurance.

"Thanks, do you know how to dress it and wrap it?" John smiled back softly.

"Yes sir, I learned some first aid in basics."

"Good, everyone should know some first aid." John nodded approvingly as she spread ointment on his hands and wrapped them in soft gauze then a heavier wrap.

"There, good as its going to get." Sally gathered up her trash and opened the bottle of water for him.

"Thanks." John drank half of the bottle in one gulp.

"So what now?"

John looked at her seriously, "I need you to not say anything to anyone about me being alive."

"Why? You could go back to London, I'm sure it wouldn't take much to get you back into a comfortable living environment."

"No, that's not what I want right now." John shook his head.

"Well what do you plan on doing then?" Sally raised an eyebrow, curious as to the blonde's plan.

"I'm going to vanish again, go vigilante, maybe save a few lives and knock a few heads." John gave her a dark grin, "It should be more fun than sitting in an office all day taking care of sniveling people."

Sally couldn't help the shudder that ran down her spine at those words, the friendly John Watson she and the rest of the police force had known had changed into a much colder, harder man.

Something must have shone in her expression because he said, "Yes Sally, I'm different now, but no I'm not a psycho, I promise." John laughed hollowly, "I do need you to promise you won't tell anyone I'm alive though."

"I won't tell anyone," this time she sighed, "I swear, the fact that you're alive will go with me to my grave if it must."

He nodded sharply, "Thank you Sally Donovan, we may not have always seen eye to eye but you can be counted on to keep a promise."

She shrugged, "I was raised that way."

"I need to leave now though, and you should get back to your job." John's gentle reminder that she had a job she was supposed to be doing made her turn around for just a moment to see if anyone was looking for her, but when Sally spun back around the man was gone like the wind.

She noticed the protein bar was gone, along with the bottle of water, and just a little ways from where John had been there was one giant paw print.


End file.
